Latest trial for 'Wooded Rapist' begins Monday

The next episode in the saga of the man called the “Wooded Rapist” begins Monday morning.

The latest in a series of trials for Robert Jason Burdick, 40, was set to begin at 9 a.m. Monday in Judge Seth Norman’s courtroom, where Burdick faces charges of especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.

Police believed Burdick began a 14-year-long string of rapes in March 1994, with his victims ranging in age from 16 to 61. The first few rapes occurred near the wealthy Radnor Lake area, with Burdick using densely forested places and rainy nights to mask his crimes.

Norman sentenced Burdick to 10 years in prison in December for an attempted aggravated rape committed in 1994.

In April, he was convicted of aggravated rape and aggravated burglary, and later sentenced to 32 years. Those sentences are to be served consecutively.

Burdick is suspected of as many as 13 rapes in Davidson, Wilson and Williamson counties.